Berlinite AlPO4

c 2001-2005 Mineral Data Publishing, version 1

Crystal Data: Hexagonal. Point Group: 32. Granular, to 6 mm, massive.

Twinning: Subparallel twinning lamellae.

Physical Properties: Fracture: Conchoidal. Hardness = ∼6.5 D(meas.) = 2.64–2.66

D(calc.) = 2.618 May fluoresce dark red under UV.

Optical Properties: Transparent to translucent. Color: Colorless, pale gray, may be pale rose;
colorless in transmitted light. Luster: Vitreous.
Optical Class: Uniaxial (+). ω = 1.524(1)  = 1.532(1)

Cell Data: Space Group: P 31 21 (synthetic). a = 4.941(2) c = 10.940(3) Z=3

X-ray Powder Pattern: Synthetic.

3.369 (100), 4.28 (25), 1.835 (16), 2.471 (12), 2.306 (12), 1.393 (12), 1.389 (12)

Chemistry: (1) (2)

P2 O5 58.43 58.20
SiO2 0.13
Al2 O3 41.88 41.80
Fe2 O3 0.04
Total 100.48 100.00
(1) Mt. Perry, Australia; by electron microprobe, total Fe as Fe2 O3 . (2) AlPO4 .

Occurrence: A rare high-temperature hydrothermal or metasomatic mineral.

Association: Augelite, attakolite, kyanite, pyrophyllite, scorzalite, lazulite, gatumbaite,

burangaite, amblygonite, phosphosiderite, purpurite, apatite, muscovite, quartz, hematite
(granite pegmatites); alunite, aragonite, collophane, crandallite, francoanellite, gypsum,
huntite, hydromagnesite, leucophosphite, nesquehonite, niter, nitrocalcite (Paddy’s River mine,
Australia).

Distribution: In the Västanå mine, near Näsum, Skåne, and at Hålsjöberg, Värmland, Sweden.
In Rwanda, in the Buranga and Rusororo pegmatites, Gatumba district. In Australia, on Mt.
Perry, 75 km southwest of Bundaberg, Queensland, and at Paddy’s River mine, Australian
Capital Territory. From the Sapucaia pegmatite mine, about 50 km east-southeast of Governador
Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Name: Honoring Professor Nils Johan Berlin (1812–1891), pharmacologist, University of Lund,
Lund, Sweden.

Type Material: Wroclaw University, Wroclaw, Poland, II–9574; Harvard University,

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 101252.

References: (1) Palache, C., H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1951) Dana’s system of mineralogy,
(7th edition), v. II, 696–697. (2) Gallagher, M.J. and J.F. Gerards (1962) Berlinite from Rwanda.
Mineral. Mag., 33, 613–615. (3) Duggan, M.B., M.T. Jones, D.N.G. Richards, and J.L. Kamprad
(1990) Phosphate minerals in altered andesite from Mount Perry, Queensland, Australia.
Can. Mineral., 28, 125–131. (4) Sowa, H., J. Macavei, and H. Schultz (1990) The crystal structure
of berlinite AlPO4 at high pressure. Zeits. Krist., 192, 119–136. (5) (1960) NBS Circ. 539, 10, 3.

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